Monday, March 11, 2013

I'm dedicating this week to spring style on a tight budget! The snow thawed, time to shop, let's make it as painless as possible shall we? Duro Olowu collaborated with J. C. Penney for one of the most unique retail mashups this season.

This one really caught my interest because Duro Olowu is a Nigerian-born, British fashion designer. His collections are known for bright, graphic prints and nods to his ethnic heritage. This an unexpected, fashion forward choice for classic American mass market retailer J. C. Penney. The result is an entire lifestyle collection that does not look like any other budget collaboration I have seen so far.

Modern updates to African tribal prints are worked into clothing, vases, entertaining pieces, picture frames... Woven textiles are mixed with carved wooden and brass handles for super chic handbags. Traditional trims in bright, fashion colors are worked into playful jewelry.

I was lucky enough to score a handbag and platter. I was really impressed with the quality, especially at seeing the price points. I could not find anything over $50. With so many "limited edition" designer projects with stores that aim to be cheap and appeal to as much of the mass market as possible (aka bland), it was really refreshing to see this department store take a chance on both a lesser-known designer and bold collection. Shop for it here.